légionvslésionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“légion” and “lésions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,410
“légion” frequency rank
#11,254
“lésions” frequency rank
17664
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature légion lésions
Definition Corps d’infanterie romaine ayant varié de quatre mille soldats sous la République romaine à six mille sous le Haut-Empire et environ mille au Bas-Empire, commandé par un légat de rang sénatorial. Pluriel de lésion.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set légion and lésions apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
légion
7 ch
lésions

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. légion (\le.ʒjɔ̃\) and lésions (\le.zjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

légion is recorded at frequency rank #6,410, classified as anoun, pronounced \le.ʒjɔ̃\. lésions is at rank #11,254, tagged as anoun, pronounced \le.zjɔ̃\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 17664, this pair ranks #382,087 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of légion vs lésions

Shared letters: ilnoé. Private to "légion": g. Private to "lésions": s.

"légion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "lésions" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Frequency comparison

légion#6,410
lésions#11,254

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "légion" and "lésions" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\le.ʒjɔ̃\ versus \le.zjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "légion" or "lésions"?
"légion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,410 in our French list, against #11,254 for "lésions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering légion vs lésions

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “légion” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list